i've done it a few times outside of california. There's a particular section of US 78 here leaving memphis towards Birmingham that has a couple of redlights spaced 1/2 mile apart and is very, very congested with tractor trailers.

sometimes i've come up on a red light, with 5-7 semis in each of the two lanes. with the speed of the red lights, that means I'm not going to get through the next green light, AND i'm going to end up getting stuck at the next stop light as well. so, if everyone is at a standstill and there's room between the semis, i'll filter to the front.